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Authors: Evelyn Richardson
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He had known how it would be the minute he caught the dancer's attention. She had seen him immediately, and her gaze had quickly shifted to the boxes above him; but he had caught her sneaking glances at him as she pirouetted 62
The Willful Widow
by Evelyn Richardson
across the stage, and as she had stopped to acknowledge the thunderous applause and caught sight of him, she had allowed the tiniest of smiles to flit across her full red lips. Wise in the ways of sought-after women, he had waited until the others had left, certain of his admission to her dressing room.
For her part, from the moment Justin St. Clair had stepped through the door that night at the opera, Suzette, experienced as she was, had wanted him more than she had ever wanted any man in her life. She had emerged breathless and shaking from their first embrace with a desire that had only increased during their liaison. It was not just his practiced lovemaking or his ability to make a woman feel as though she were the most exquisite creature in the world that made him so irresistible, but it was his genuine interest in her, Suzette de Charenton, that had caused the premiere ballerina to single him out among all her would-be admirers.
"Ah, mon cheri, you are more handsome every time I see you," she now sighed, sliding one tiny hand down his chest. Justin laughed. "Doing it much too brown aren't you, my love?"
The dancer fixed him with her emerald eyes, "Alas no. You know, Justin, my heart is of the most jaded, and ordinarily I am tres ennuyee with all you silly men. But you, you are something different, non ?"
"I should like to think so, at least where you are concerned."
63
The Willful Widow
by Evelyn Richardson
She smiled, flashing a charming dimple at him. "Yes, you are, I am sad to say. I should so much prefer to be indifferent to you."
"Indifferent, sweetheart, but why, when it is so much more charming for both of us that you are not?"
"Because, odious man, I should like for one woman at least to be immune to your devastating attractions, and I have yet to see anyone who is. Even my poor Huggins has a certain air about her when you are around. It would be good for your character to meet someone who does not cast herself at your feet." The lady sniffed, but her eyes twinkled up at him.
"Then you may lay your fears for my character to rest, because I have discovered the very female you seek. Not only does she resist my, er 'charms', she has assured me that she wishes to have nothing to do with me." Suzette was intrigued. "I had not known that such a person existed. Is she an ape-leader?" For only a hardened and embittered old maid could resist the lurking smile in those gray eyes.
"No. In fact, some would say she is rather attractive, my nephew Reginald for one. It is his ridiculous infatuation with her that has been the cause of a great deal of bother, and sent my brother Alfred running to me like the old woman he is." Justin sighed bitterly. "But, I did not come here to talk about me. I came to feast my eyes on your beautiful countenance and to see if I could persuade you to allow me to purchase you a new bonnet from Celeste, since you confided in me how much you admired her creations. 'Tis such a fine 64
The Willful Widow
by Evelyn Richardson
spring day that one feels one should celebrate somehow, and this seems a most appropriate way to enjoy it." Suzette smiled. "You are too generous, sir. Why only last week you insisted on bestowing that beautiful shawl on me, which was shockingly dear." So he would not discuss this latest contretemps with her, but she could tell by the furrow in his brow that something was bothering him. Ordinarily, Justin blithely wrote off his family as a group of dullards with more hair than wit, who were better off in the country where they usually obliged him by remaining. There must be something more to this than met the eye. Perhaps there was something to this woman who seemed to dislike him. The opera dancer
The Willful Widow
by Evelyn Richardson
across the stage, and as she had stopped to acknowledge the thunderous applause and caught sight of him, she had allowed the tiniest of smiles to flit across her full red lips. Wise in the ways of sought-after women, he had waited until the others had left, certain of his admission to her dressing room.
For her part, from the moment Justin St. Clair had stepped through the door that night at the opera, Suzette, experienced as she was, had wanted him more than she had ever wanted any man in her life. She had emerged breathless and shaking from their first embrace with a desire that had only increased during their liaison. It was not just his practiced lovemaking or his ability to make a woman feel as though she were the most exquisite creature in the world that made him so irresistible, but it was his genuine interest in her, Suzette de Charenton, that had caused the premiere ballerina to single him out among all her would-be admirers.
"Ah, mon cheri, you are more handsome every time I see you," she now sighed, sliding one tiny hand down his chest. Justin laughed. "Doing it much too brown aren't you, my love?"
The dancer fixed him with her emerald eyes, "Alas no. You know, Justin, my heart is of the most jaded, and ordinarily I am tres ennuyee with all you silly men. But you, you are something different, non ?"
"I should like to think so, at least where you are concerned."
63
The Willful Widow
by Evelyn Richardson
She smiled, flashing a charming dimple at him. "Yes, you are, I am sad to say. I should so much prefer to be indifferent to you."
"Indifferent, sweetheart, but why, when it is so much more charming for both of us that you are not?"
"Because, odious man, I should like for one woman at least to be immune to your devastating attractions, and I have yet to see anyone who is. Even my poor Huggins has a certain air about her when you are around. It would be good for your character to meet someone who does not cast herself at your feet." The lady sniffed, but her eyes twinkled up at him.
"Then you may lay your fears for my character to rest, because I have discovered the very female you seek. Not only does she resist my, er 'charms', she has assured me that she wishes to have nothing to do with me." Suzette was intrigued. "I had not known that such a person existed. Is she an ape-leader?" For only a hardened and embittered old maid could resist the lurking smile in those gray eyes.
"No. In fact, some would say she is rather attractive, my nephew Reginald for one. It is his ridiculous infatuation with her that has been the cause of a great deal of bother, and sent my brother Alfred running to me like the old woman he is." Justin sighed bitterly. "But, I did not come here to talk about me. I came to feast my eyes on your beautiful countenance and to see if I could persuade you to allow me to purchase you a new bonnet from Celeste, since you confided in me how much you admired her creations. 'Tis such a fine 64
The Willful Widow
by Evelyn Richardson
spring day that one feels one should celebrate somehow, and this seems a most appropriate way to enjoy it." Suzette smiled. "You are too generous, sir. Why only last week you insisted on bestowing that beautiful shawl on me, which was shockingly dear." So he would not discuss this latest contretemps with her, but she could tell by the furrow in his brow that something was bothering him. Ordinarily, Justin blithely wrote off his family as a group of dullards with more hair than wit, who were better off in the country where they usually obliged him by remaining. There must be something more to this than met the eye. Perhaps there was something to this woman who seemed to dislike him. The opera dancer
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